ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The Latest on ordeal of two Native American teens who were pulled from a Colorado State University admissions tour by police (all times local):
7:10 p.m.
The president of Colorado State University has outlined several steps the school will take after two Native American teenagers were pulled from a campus tour by police.
Tony Frank said in an email to students and faculty Friday that the university will start using badges or lanyards to identify tour guests. Police will also be able to contact guides if officers need to talk to participants, and guides will establish themselves as the first point of contact for any concerns.
Two officers searched 19-year-old Thomas Kanewakeron Gray and his 17-year-old brother, Lloyd Skanahwati Gray, on Monday after a woman on the tour called police to report that the teens were acting “really odd.”
The school has called the incident “shameful on so many levels” and says that the teens did nothing wrong. The Grays had traveled from their home in New Mexico to Fort Collins for the tour.
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4:50 p.m.
Police video of a Colorado State University incident involving two Native American teens on a campus tour shows officers telling the prospective students to pull their hands out of their pockets and asking them why they didn’t “cooperate” when others in the group asked them questions.
The university released the police video Friday afternoon along with audio from the 911 call that prompted campus police to pull 19-year-old Thomas Kanewakeron Gray and 17-year-old Lloyd Skanahwati Gray from the admissions tour earlier this week.
Another parent in the group reported the brothers to police, saying she was nervous about their presence.
The school has called the incident “shameful on so many levels” and says that the teens did nothing wrong.
The Grays had traveled from their home in New Mexico to Fort Collins for the tour.
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4:40 p.m.
The woman who called police about two Native American brothers on a college tour in Colorado said that the teens were acting oddly, wouldn’t give their names and were wearing clothing with weird symbols or wording on them.
In a 911 call released by Colorado State University on Friday, the woman told a dispatcher the teens were “definitely not” part of the tour. When she was pressed for details about where police could find the two, the woman said “it’s probably nothing,” saying she could just be being paranoid “with just everything that has happened.”
Police did not release the name of the woman, who was identified on a police report as 45-year-old white female from Colorado.
Nineteen-year-old Thomas Kanewakeron Gray says he and his 17-year-old brother were shocked when they were removed from Monday’s tour to be questioned and patted down by police.
The university says it deeply regrets the brothers’ “unwelcoming and concerning experience.”
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2:20 p.m.
Colorado State University is inviting two Native American teenagers pulled from a campus tour by police back to the school, saying it will pick up the tab for them to travel back there for a VIP tour with their family.
The school also said Friday it would refund the money the brothers spent to travel to the school for Monday’s tour. School officials say a woman in that tour group reported feeling nervous about the presence of 19-year-old Thomas Kanewakeron Gray and his 17-year-old brother, Lloyd Skanahwati Gray.
They were questioned and released but by then the tour group had moved on without them.
The university says it deeply regrets the brothers’ “unwelcoming and concerning experience.”
The university says it has reached out to the family but the teens’ mother says they’re not ready to respond yet.
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1 a.m.
A Native American teenager pulled from a Colorado State University tour says he and his brother were on campus for just 20 to 30 minutes when officers began questioning them. School officials say a woman in the group reported feeling nervous about their presence.
Nineteen-year-old Thomas Kanewakeron Gray says he and his 17-year-old brother were shocked when they were removed from the tour.
Gray says he believes the brothers were reported as a result of racial discrimination.
He says officers released the brothers after they provided an email on their phone showing they had reserved campus tour spots. By then, the tour had moved on without them.
The university called the case “sad and frustrating” and says it’s reviewing how similar incidents can be avoided or handled better in the future.
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